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Novus closed 10/31/2022, after The Gentle Exodus

Interactive Quest  - prehistoric missives

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#1


when the youth need guidance

 
 
The day is unnaturally warm despite the autumn season that has encompassed all of Novus. The air of the Tinea Swamp is muggy and damp, high and strong with humidity. A slight, warm breeze dances through the trees, yet it brings no reprieve from the unrelenting moisture in the air or the heat from the sun. Insects of all kinds buzz about stagnant swamp water and drooping stalks of vegetation, roaming their natural habitat in annoying droves. Due to the heat of the day, the soiled smell of peat moss and decay carry easily on the breeze, a smell akin to rotten eggs billowing through the atmosphere.
 
All in all, it makes for a miserable day to explore through the swamp. The sun has reached its zenith in the sky, hanging proudly and bearing down an unnatural heat upon the land. All is as it should be…
 
… Or is it?
 
A task had been given from a primitive of the land. A mission. A sojourn. The land is as ancient as it is wise, haunted by the spirits of condemned souls and forgotten shamans. Some know the legends. Others do not… Yet, should she accept the task given to her by the Ilati Elder, Jaxis will find herself wandering the swamp in search of the truth. The terrain will prove a challenge. All good things, after all, do not come easy. The soggy ground will give out beneath her large hooves, the peat moss and rotten soil clinging to her legs. Dragonflies will dance about her ears the deeper she ventures into the moisture-ridden land, flies buzzing about her eyes. The insects do not want her here. This is their sanctuary, their domain, and they were not happy.
 
Yet within this ancient land, one with the water, the air, the soil, and the trees, there is an energy. A pull. It winds itself around Jaxis’ body like an invisible cord and lures her onwards, pulling her deeper and deeper into the forgotten recesses of the Tinea Swamp. Prehistoric carvings litter the trees, the torn bark stained with red paint from the forgotten natives. Red ferns grow in dense, cumbersome populations, making every step difficult.
 
Suddenly the insects halt their assault, the loud buzzing stops, and the world seems to stand still. There, in the clearing surrounded by rotting red ferns is what Jaxis has been drawn towards.
 
Nestled in the midst of the clearing sits a solitary egg. It is larger than that of any known avian, its color dull yet speckled. It rests within a crude, abandoned nest of dirt, animal parts, and sticks. Around the nest are sun-bleached skulls of long-deceased creatures, surely leftovers from a mother’s hearty meal. The remaining bones are prehistoric, from a time Novus has not seen in many years… Yet the egg is something else. Something new. It is the promise of new life, of endurance, of survival.
 
Should Jaxis wander into the clearing and approach the nest, all will continue to be silent. There is no wind. It was as if the world was holding its breath, waiting, watching… Suddenly, a shrewd crack cut through the silence, coming from the egg in the nest. It rocks a little onto its side, a crack appearing on its surface. Slowly the fissure grows, spreading across the diluted surface of the egg, until a maw forces its way through, for the tiny creature inside is ready to face the world.
 
The creature inside the egg shifts and rolls, taking great effort to force herself out of her tiny prison. It is a struggle, and an exhausting one, yet she is determined. She will not give up, not now, not after all of that waiting… Eventually she breaks free from the confines of her shell, letting her scaly legs and long tail unravel and stretch out, her neck and broad head unfolding to reveal the prepubescent form of a species long believed to be extinct. The Indominus Rex’s beady eyes peered out, blinking slowly, staring around the remains of its shell and its nest in wonder.
 
Instinct, however, was a prime motivator. The Indominus Rex knew hunger before understanding the word itself, but oh, was she hungry! The tiny form rolled and began to try and stand, taking a few attempts to discover and understand her legs, and it was when she had finally stood that the creature realized that she was not alone.
 
A creature much taller than she loomed nearby, so very close that they could almost touch with just a few paces put between them. The Indominus Rex peered at the horned equine for a few moments and then let out a faint, uncertain warble. Something about this looming equine felt right. It felt as though they were meant to be. Words it did not yet understand flew through her brain; parent. Mother. Momma. One step, then another, the small prehistoric creature approached Jaxis, and then with all the might in her tiny body, let out a shrill bellow that, quite honestly, was not very fearsome.
 
For now, she was small… Yet one day, she would be big. Intimidating. Fearsome. It would be up to Jaxis to teach her how.
 
 

 
After she has accepted the quest assigned by Turhan, @Jaxis will venture deep into the Tinea Swamp on a hot, muggy day. Through her journey she will be drawn by an invisible feeling, something raw and ancient that will lure her deep into the forgotten recesses of the swamp, where few others have ever walked before. Stumbling upon a nest surrounded by dinosaur skulls and red ferns, she will find an old egg, which hatches shortly after arrival. The Indominus Rex arrives into a world without a mother or a guide, but upon seeing Jaxis near the nest, believes that she will be the one to teach her these things. Should Jaxis accept, the Indominus Rex will return with her out of the swamp.
 
Jaxis has met her bonded.
 
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Jaxis
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#2






JAXIS
HANDS STEEPED IN BLOOD

The task was.. simple, at least in terms of what she needed to get. Wings (freshly plucked), flowers, things of the sort that she could find easy. Jaxis was cocky, as she would always be, and as she stepped away from the Elder, she began to make her way deeper and deeper in to the swamp. It was tricky to navigate the more wilder parts of the swamp, her hooves being sucked down in to mud and vines growing rampant to block her path. Clusters of ferns and other flora bunched up in her way more than once, but there was a pull at her chest, a vague sensation that she was following without realizing as she navigated. The items to fetch were in the back of her mind, but she was more keenly focused on shouldering past naked trees that were gnarled and covered in thick vines that tangled in her horns. Once or twice she shook her head, ripping through them with her horns as they were snagged and caught, her titanic form halting here and there.

Mud grew thicker, insects buzzed around her head, and she snapped her teeth at them in response with aggravation, once or twice swatting them with her head and horns, knocking the buzzing creatures to the waters underhoof. They buzzed and floundered, and her hooves pressed down on them, but the insects grew larger the deeper she went, until they were great beasts in the air with buzzing that made her teeth vibrate in her head. Jaxis pinned her ears back even as she shoved past the last of the ferns that blocked her path. The clearing was so sudden that she nearly stumbled, staggering and pushing upright and ---- silence. Her ears lifted, violet eyes narrowing in uncertainty as she gazed around.

The insects were gone, having fled elsewhere, it seemed. Something had spooked them, hadn't it?

The colossal mare couldn't ponder it for too long, considering that the pull in her chest felt like a warm glow now more than anything. It was a wave of heat that radiated outward, and her head turned to take in the sight of a nest. Old, ancient perhaps, with bones that were strewn about. Some held teeth, others were simply stripped of flesh, and her eyes fell on a certain skull that was shattered, except for a large portion of its upper jaw. Something for her to take, then.

Jaxis' attention snapped from the toothy skull toward the egg as it cracked, and as if by an invisible string, she stepped forward. Her hooves came near the edge of the nest, where mud dried and cracked, bits of old prey nothing but dust and shards of bone. The egg was moving, rocking, even falling to its side, and she was entranced by the motions, by the peeking out of a pale snout and crocodilian teeth that clamped shut unevenly. A baby, and even so, one with sharp teeth and claws as it broke out of the egg, revealing itself. Large, for a baby, wasn't it?

The heat of the day was forgotten (even as it seeped in to her skin, buried in to her bones and her body, clogged her throat with moisture), in lieu of lowering her head slowly, to focus on the miniature creature that was beginning to stand. Such a strange creature, but the pull in her chest seemed to guide her as she stood, a towering equine over a nest of an unknown creature. But the pulse in her body (so unlike her own heart) was telling her to stay, to watch, to wait.

There was a sound as they locked gazes, and finally, her head lowered slightly. It wasn't until the creature was closer to her, letting out a bellow (sounding like a small pathetic thing really), that her head lowered even more, legs shifting so she could reach and press her muzzle to the small thing. "..Enyo..." The name flickered in her mind, and she blew out a soft breath, nose against small claws that pressed against her flesh. Ducking her head more, she tucked her muzzle under those legs and lifted, bringing the small creature up so it could climb up on her head and cling between horns

"You're coming with me." The words were soft, but very much determined. This one was hers, whatever she was. Something told her that Enyo would be hers through life, and beyond.







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